Just Another Cat in a Trash Can
by Lipton Lee
Summary: Post Finale. She's mad at him, at first, for bringing a little kitten into their home without asking.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Just Another Cat in a Trash Can  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.  
Rating: PG ish? PG-13?  
Pairings: Chuck/Sarah, Morgan/Alex  
Spoilers: Seasons 1-5  
Summary: Post Finale. _She's mad at him, at first, for bringing a little kitten into their home without asking._  
Notes: Yes, I know I should be working on the other two fics. But here. Have a kitten instead.

* * *

She's mad at him, at first, for bringing a little kitten into their home without asking.

"What if I was allergic?"

Chuck gives her a quizzical look. "Uh...well...I already know that you're not."

Sarah huffs. Sometimes she forgets that he knows everything about her. It's frustrating to still be relearning things about Chuck while he seems to remember every little detail about her. She sits down next to him on the floor to get a better look at the ball of fur cradled in his arms.

"So...where did you find it?"

"Somebody put him into a trash can in the courtyard."

"Him?"

"Genetailia."

"Oh."

Chuck looks at her hesitantly. "We've never really talked about pets...I know it's kinda sudden, but the little guy seems like he's been through a lot..."

Sarah looks at Chuck; his big brown eyes beseeching and she thinks of a little boy asking "can we keep him? please? oh please?"

She sighs and looks to the kitten, who is purring happily in Chuck's arms. It- he - is tiny but fluffy; a tabby with brown, white and black stripes covering him, and a little white poof at the end of his tail. His eyes are deep blue and half-lidded, content.

"I...well I don't see why not," Sarah stumbles. She reaches out and pets the cat awkwardly. It shifts and wiggles, and Chuck smiles brightly.

"You hear that, buddy? You're gonna hang out with us. We're gonna need to get him a litter box and food and toys and probably a vet appointment. And a name. Names are good, too."

Sarah sighs again. She hopes she won't regret this. "Why don't we start with a name?"

"Dumbledore."

She stares at her husband. "That's a terrible name, Chuck."

"He's one of the most powerful wizards who ever lived," Chuck counters with a pout.

Sarah laughs a little and without thinking says, "I know you're still waiting for your Hogwarts letter, but we are not naming this poor animal Dumbledore."

He looks delighted suddenly, smiling, his eyes bright but he says nothing, and she knows she's hit on a memory; a conversation they've had, or a silly little joke. She purses her lips and smiles back.

"You know..." she says hesitantly. "He kinda reminds me of Casey."

Chuck blinks and glances down at the kitten, trying to see the resemblance. He tilts his head and the kitten, who can't be more than seven weeks old, reaches up and bats at his nose with a paw.

Sarah can't help laughing, and really, neither can Chuck.

"Okay. Okay. I...I see you're point."

"I think he just called you a moron in cat language."

"I think you're right."

They dub him 'Colonel,' and Chuck takes out his IPhone to start looking up veterinarians, and Sarah takes a deep breath, glancing down at the kitten again.

She's never had any pets, aside from a few gold fish that never seemed to last longer than a month, and she never gave them names. They were just "Fish."

The Colonel seems so much more real; more tangible, and she hopes that this won't blow up in her...their faces. Especially since Chuck seems so excited.

'Okay,' she thinks. 'Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

The vet's office is brightly lit, and cheery, with comics like the ones Chuck has hanging on the walls. Many of them are labeled "Pet Avengers" and "Super Pets."

It's definitely Chuck's kind of vet, and it seems like he is the vet's kind of Chuck, much to Sarah's chagrin.

She's petite, much shorter than Sarah herself, with dark brown hair in a pixie cut and big green eyes. Her name is Doctor Joan Eckhart, and she gives Chuck big, far-too-friendly smiles while she gives the Colonel his check-up.

"So have you ever had a cat before?"

"Nope," Chuck says. "Actually I'm kind of allergic. So The Colonel here is my first cat.

Sarah is about to chime in; to say she's never had a cat either, but Doctor Joan Eckhart doesn't wait.

"Well, thankfully there's allergy medicine for that," she says, giggling a little. "I think you're really gonna love having a cat around. They're such good companions; friendly but independent. Intuitive. And this little guy is so adorable."

She rubs behind the Colonel's ear, but he bats her hand away and meows, before trotting down the examination table to Sarah, staring up at her beseechingly.

They've only had him a few days, but he's definitely growing on Sarah.

She finds herself grinning a little and scratching the Colonel under his chin. "It's okay, kitty."

The good Doctor might be flirting shamelessly with her husband, but at least the cat likes Sarah better.

"Well," Doctor Joan Eckhart says breezily. "I see that he's already attached to you."

Chuck gazes at Sarah and it makes her feel warm and a little nervous but good.

"Who wouldn't be?" he says softly.

Doctor Joan Eckhart clears her throat softly and gets back to giving the Colonel his check-up. He hates it and he squirms and bites at the Doctor's hands.

* * *

After he's given a couple of shots and then a clean bill of health, they take the Colonel home, and once they let him out of his pet carrier (one of a myriad of new things they've bought in the last few days), he goes bolting to part of the apartment unknown to hide and lick at his wounded pride.

Sarah sighs and sits down on the couch. "So thanks to Doctor Flirty, the Colonel now is up to date on all his shots."

Chuck nods. "Yep. That's- wait, what?"

"You didn't notice that the vet was flirting with you?"

"She...but...I..."

Sarah shakes her head and has to smile. She remembers a little that this is normal for him; that he doesn't really catch on to these kinds of things. She kisses his cheek and gets up. "What do you want for lunch?"

Chuck just sits and stares, bewildered. "Uh..."

"I'll make omelets," she tells him.

He stops and gets to his feet. "You will?"

"Mhm."

"Oh. That's...that sounds great..."

She frowns and turns to look at him. "You like omelets. Is that right? I think it's right." Suddenly she feels unsure, and fidgets a little.

"No. No no no I love...I love omelets," Chuck says, nearly leaping forward. "I do. Do you...do you need any help?"

Sarah sighs, relieved, and grins. "I've got it."


	3. Chapter 3

"Chuck! Buddy, how could you?"

Sarah watches from the couch next to Chuck as Morgan paces in front of them. It's been a few days since the vet, and the Colonel has come out of hiding, and is now crawling over their laps; sniffing at their clothes and pawing at the arms a little.

While the Colonel is content to explore, Morgan isn't happy.

"We were gonna get dogs!" he cries. "Remember? Remember our puppy plan?"

"I know, buddy, but...but I couldn't leave the little guy in the trash can," Chuck replies, defending himself.

Alex is sitting in a chair next to the couch, watching the Colonel, obviously amused. "He is cute."

Sarah grins and turns to her. She feels a slight kinship with Alex, and she's not sure why, but she knows that Alex knows where Sarah keeps the whiskey so they must be friends. "Yesterday he took a nap in the bathtub, and then hid in a paper bag he couldn't figure out how to get out of. It was really adorable."

Alex laughs, and Morgan looks betrayed.

"Look, buddy, you could get a kitten, too and then...and then we could have kitten play dates," Chuck offers.

Morgan thinks about this. "Like a precursor to having babies."

Sarah freezes and Alex tilts her head slowly. They look at their men.

"Is that was this is all about?" Sarah asks. She doesn't mean for her voice to be so intense, but she can't help it.

"Nope, no," Chuck says firmly. "No. He said babies. I did not say babies."

"I don't even have my memories back yet."

"Morgan. Morgan said babies, I didn't say babies. He said babies."

"Stop saying babies," Alex says quickly, and gives Morgan a dirty look, and he cringes.

"You brought a kitten home to simulate having a kid," Sarah accuses.

"No!" Chuck cries. "I brought a kitten home because he was trapped in a trash can and I couldn't leave him there!"

"You could have brought it to a shelter!"

"Now he's an it?" Chuck asks, eyes wide.

"Not the best argument, Chuck," Morgan mutters.

Sarah feels dizzy, and her fight or flight response kicks in and it's flight. She stands up, toppling the Colonel to the ground and dashes back to the bedroom, slamming the door.

She knows the cat has followed her because she can hear his plaintive meows and he's pawing at the door.

She can hear Chuck, Morgan and Alex out in the living room; Morgan's apology and Chuck's telling him its okay. She's struggling to understand Chuck still. He forgives so easily.

It's not something she can manage.

* * *

She stays curled up on the bed for a few hours. The Colonel eventually gives up trying to wear down the door, and she's left with silence.

Sarah sits up and looks around, and she spies. She knows he didn't bring the cat home because he's trying simulate having a kid. That's crazy, and it doesn't seem like him. He just wanted to help out a little lost animal.

She wonders if that's what she was to him when they first met; if he looked at her and saw some lost creature in need.

Slowly, she gets to her feet and pads out of the bedroom, looking around. Chuck's not in the living room or kitchen, and the bathroom door is open. She pads over to the guestroom door and taps softly.

"Come in," Chuck's voice says quietly.

Sarah opens the door and finds him sitting on the bed with an open book, and the Colonel lying on the pillow next to his head. She waves awkward, and he waves back, sitting up.

"I..." she takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I lost it pretty badly, and I shouldn't have."

"No, no," Chuck says softly. "It's okay. Really."

Sarah bites her lip and leans on the doorframe. "But...just to be clear..."

"Cat in a trash can," Chuck tells her. "That's all it was. Haven't you ever felt like a cat in a trash can?"

She tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

"He's little," Chuck points out. "There was nowhere for him to climb up and no way for him to open the trash can to get inside in the first place. Somebody put him there."

Sarah hadn't thought about it like that; she just assumed that the cat had accidentally gotten in and had gotten stuck, but Chuck's right. The Colonel is little and the trash can lid is always closed. Somebody threw him away.

She takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah. Yeah I have felt like that."

"Me, too," Chuck says. "So leaving him there...even taking him to a shelter...I don't know. If you don't want him around, we can always find him a new home."

Slowly, Sarah walks into the room and gets on the bed, stretching out next to him. The Colonel hops down from his pillow and starts crawling on her and she grins. "Nah. I think he's good where he is."

Chuck gazes at her, and she feels all the warmth and love there. It makes her a little dizzy, but in a really good way.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah can tell when Chuck has nightmares, even though they've been sleeping in separate bedrooms. The loud creak of the guest bed, and the slow opening of a door give him away, as well as his bare feet padding down the hall to the kitchen.

Sometimes he stops in front of the door to her (their) bedroom, but he never comes in.

She wonders what he dreams about. If maybe he dreams about that night in their "Dream House" when she tried to beat him to death and then he took a bullet for her. To tell the truth she has nightmares about that night; about what would have happened if she'd actually succeeded in killing him, or if he hadn't been wearing a vest.

She had been baffled at the time by his refusal to fight her, and getting to (re)know him has shed a lot of light on that. He's too kind, too good-hearted to hurt someone he cares about.

Maybe it's something else, though. His father's death or...

Sarah blinks. She's not sure where that came from, but suddenly she remembers Chuck's father's death; how empty his eyes looked when he told her; how hopeless he seemed.

There are quite a few things, Sarah realizes, that he could have nightmares about.

She sits up when there's a knock on the door. "Uh...come in."

Chuck opens it up. He's holding the Colonel in one arm and his nose looks red; his eyes watery.

She frowns, and starts to get out of bed. "Chuck...?"

"The cat's making my allergies act up," he tells her with a sniffle. "I don't wanna take an allergy pill this late. Can he stay with you?"

Sarah nods, and tries hard to gauge in the darkness whether it really is allergies, or if he's been crying a little. She steps up to him, taking the cat and getting a closer look, and he looks...worn out, but she's still not sure if he's been crying.

"G'night," he says, patting the Colonel on the head.

She's not really thinking. She's just sort of on autopilot, still sleepy and still a little worried about him. She reaches out and grabs onto his thin t-shirt, turning him back around and kissing him lightly.

He stands there, dumbfounded, but kisses her back. He pulls away when the Colonel starts pawing at his chest. His eyes are wide, and still a little red.

"Have a good night, Chuck," she tells him, and heads back to the bed, cuddling the Colonel in her arms.

She hears him close the door and pad back to the guestroom, and then curls up on the bed while the Colonel walks slow circles around on the blanket, pawing and stretching before flopping down, purring loudly.

Sarah watches him. "You know one day I'm gonna get all these memories back, and then things won't be so hard. Things will be good then."

The Colonel blinks at her and she sighs, closing her eyes. She doesn't hear Chuck get up again, but she could swear she hears more sniffling, and she reaches out and pulls the pillow on the other side of the bed to her chest, hugging it tightly.


	5. Chapter 5

Warning: This chapter is a little steam-may

He wakes up from a particularly heated dream and rubs his eyes.

He hates that this keeps happening, but he can't help it. Everything in him misses her, even though she's just down the hall.

The guestroom is quiet, save for Chuck's heavy breathing, and he lays back down, closing his eyes and trying to calm himself.

It occurs to him that maybe being so close to Sarah without being able to be close with her was a bad idea; that maybe he should have let her leave or left himself even. He could have gone anywhere.

But could he really have left her all alone?

The answer to that is quite simple: No.

He'd never have been able to leave Sarah, even if it would have been for his own good.

He loves her too much.

But Chuck lets his mind drift as his body cools off; he thinks about all the places he could go and all the people he could meet and realizes that none of it would compare to sharing a pizza and watching a movie with his wife while their cat prowls around the apartment.

He sighs. While he's successfully relaxed himself , he not sleepy anymore, so he stands up and wanders out and down the hall, rubbing his arms. It's not really cold but leaving the warmth of the guest bed makes him shiver.

The Colonel has climbed up on the kitchen counter and is splayed out. He squints and makes a slightly grumpy noise when Chuck turns the lights on, but is still purring.

He pats the cat's head and then swings the fridge open.

"Chuck?"

He looks up and finds Sarah standing there. She looks a little flushed; a little hesitant.

Chuck frowns. "Everything okay?"

"Fine," she says quickly. "I just...woke up."

He nods. "Uh...I was just lookin' for a snack. You want anything?"

"No."

Chuck stares at her for a long moment. "Uh...okay."

She stares back at him for a long moment before storming up to him and closing the refrigerator door.

"Something wrong" he asked, concerned. "Because if you're worried about using up electricity, I think we're okay..."

She stares at him for a moment more before fisting her hands into his t-shirt and pulling him into a kiss.

The half-yelp, half-squeak that leaves his throat is drowned out by the surprised yowl the Colonel lets out when Sarah shoves Chuck against the counter, her hands moving up to his hair.

He really means to pull away; to ask her what's going on; to suggest maybe they should slow down.

He means to, but instead he shifts them, lifting Sarah up onto the counter and running his hands over her as he keeps kissing her.

It takes another moment before Chuck pulls away, taking a deep breath. "Sarah..."

She leans in for another kiss, which he gives into but ends quickly.

"Sarah...Sarah wait..."

She stares at him and he can tell she's pulling away from him emotionally.

"It...it's not that I don't want this..."

She scoots closer to him. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Chuck strokes her hair gently. "For you to tell me what brought this on."

Sarah looks away and he waits, watching her carefully.

"Aren't you tired of tip-toeing around each other?"

"I don't want to push you," he says softly. "And I didn't want you to feel rushed into something you might not be ready for."

"Do I look not ready to you?"

Chuck swallows, his eyes wide.

Sarah leans in, her lips close to his ear. "Do I look rushed?"

He stammers then, not quite ready for her to pull that soft voice out on him. "I...I mean you...I mean it depends on..." he swallows again. "It depends on what kind of rushed we're talking about?"

She smiles at him and leans in for another kiss, but he swallows.

"Sarah maybe...maybe maybe..."

Sarah stares at him expectantly, sliding a leg around him and Chuck gasps.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this on the kitchen counters," he says quickly.

She grins.


End file.
